


You're here, with me

by kiraakitsune



Category: Supernatural
Genre: 15x20, Castiel/Dean Winchester One Shot, Domestic Fluff, Fix-It, Fluff, Happy Ending, M/M, One Shot, Season 15, Swearing, no one dies, spanish dub
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-30
Updated: 2020-11-30
Packaged: 2021-03-09 18:34:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,647
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27800842
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kiraakitsune/pseuds/kiraakitsune
Summary: Dean wakes up one morning and finds his life different than before.
Relationships: Castiel & Dean Winchester, Castiel/Dean Winchester
Comments: 4
Kudos: 50





	You're here, with me

“Dean!” he hears someone shout in the distance. 

And then he hears it again, louder but the voice now trembling and alarmed: “Dean…”. Finally, he awakes and opens his eyes. Sweat is dripping from his forehead, and he feels freezing cold, the goosebumps all over his arms, proving his discomfort. He gasps for air, breathing in rapidly as he tries to figure out what is going on. Spotting the beige trenchcoat lying on the ground all rumpled up, he shudders, still distraught by his nightmare. But Dean remembers now. Cas had sacrificed himself in the most romantic and tragic way. The memory alone sends chills running down his spine. 

“I love you,” the words echo in his mind, over and over again. The look on Cas’ face resurfaces on his mind. With tears in his big blue eyes, the angel had spoken his truth and showed Dean that there was more to him than blood, sweat, and self-loathing. 

That night Dean had also found a truth of his own… that the anger, despair, and rage that had seemed to accompany him every single day, every hour, and every minute in the past few years was not equivalent to who he was as a person. Cas made him realize that there was more to him than that. In reality, his sudden outbursts, his “shoot first and ask questions later” attitude, his alcoholism only arose from the fear of not being able to save his family, whom he loved more than he could ever put in words. And he has always had issues with putting his feelings into words. Cas made it seem so easy as the words came from his mouth almost naturally. They originated from a place of honesty and deeply rooted devotion, which had developed over the last decade and only grown after all of the battles fought and trauma shared. 

Dean was different than Cas, though. The quick, distraught “I love you too,” Dean had uttered back at him was the reason the Empty was eventually summoned. Still, Cas had not been sure if it was meant romantically, not until Dean had finally spoken his truth. Once he had gripped Cas tight and raised him from perdition, once he had saved him, he was able to avow his love to Cas. He had bottled up his feelings for years, and it was strange to finally give in to the thought of truly and fully loving his angel and to recognize that he was loved equally. Admittedly, Cas was not Dean’s first crush, but he kept pushing his feelings down year, after year, after year because, in the end, they would only be friends, albeit best friends. Or so Dean thought. 

Everything changed that night, and going up against Chuck without his best friend, lover, angel was one of the most demanding moments of his life, especially since they had lost everyone that time. And if it had not been for Jack and Sam, Dean would have lost all hope and they would have never been able to save the world. Jack, their son, ended up being the key to defeating Chuck. Looking back, Dean feels horrible about the way he has treated Jack in the past three years. Sam and Cas have always been better at giving people the benefit of the doubt, while Dean was constantly afraid of losing his little family and struggled with expanding his understanding of the term. But Jack had long earned his spot as a Winchester, and Dean hopes the kid will drop by again soon. For now, he has gone to rebuild the other worlds which were destroyed in the midst of Chuck’s absurd tantrums. Dean’s mind wanders back to the foolish dream he had just had. In an instant, he feels the shivers return to his body… it was only a nightmare, right? 

“Dean, are you alright? Did you have a bad dream? You know I get those too now,” he heard Cas say. A sigh of relief left his body as he turned around to face his angel. His angel? No, Cas was not his angel anymore, at least not since they had rescued him from the Empty. The price Cas had to pay in order to be released from the Empty was giving up his grace. But it was an insignificant price compared to the possibility of returning to Earth and being with his family. Cas had felt out of place for a long time now. 

Ever since he stopped considering heaven his home, he had struggled with his identity and what his future could look like. The only constant fragment of his identity had been his role as a protector and friend of the Winchesters and, later, a father to Jack; family was the only thing that ever felt right and true even when everything around them fell apart again, and again, and again. No matter how many battles they lost, how many friends they had to bury, and how many tears they cried, they always had each other. The Winchester family, the family Sam and Dean have built over the past twelve years, was thrown together by circumstance but stayed together because of love. 

Loving Dean felt different than loving Sam or Jack, and at first, Cas did not comprehend, no matter how many times their friends and enemies alike used the word love to describe the relationship between the angel and the hunter. From the day he first met Dean, when he gripped him tight and raised him from perdition, he was stuck on him. No matter how lost and confused he felt, Cas knew that he could trust Dean. And what started as fascination and curiosity, quickly turned into something more profound as they got to know each other. 

At first, the angel did not understand why this broken shell of a man kept pushing forward even in the face of insurmountable odds. Eventually, he realized that what keeps the hunter going, is not vengeance or anger, but love and, despite everything, the hope for a better world. Gradually, Cas fell for Dean. He fell in love with his Western obsession, his bickering over cheeseburgers and bacon, the way his eyes crinkled when he cracked a joke, the snarky comments with which he faced even their most frightening villains. He was in love with Dean Winchester, and nothing could change that, not even the hunter himself rejecting him. Cas loved Dean when they were drinking beer at a bar, smiling and laughing. He loved him when they lost Jack, he loved him when they were trying to get rid of Michael, and he loved him when Dean sent him away after Rowena’s death. Castiel has loved Dean for a long time. Luckily, they are free now, so Cas knows now that he truly has Dean and that they can finally work on their issues, together. And even though they do not have everything figured out yet, it does not matter because they have time now. Together, they can find out what they want from life other than each other. Cas would choose a mortal life with Dean, his friends, and family by his side over eternity as heaven’s soldier any day. Even though his time with the Winchesters has been abysmally short in comparison to his time serving heaven, those eleven years have been the best of his life. 

\--- 

Dean still has not reacted to Cas, who at this point is gripping tightly onto his shoulders and looking at him with concern in his eyes. Instead of answering him, he closes the small space between the two, where Miracle has been sleeping until shortly before Dean woke up, takes Cas’s hands into his, and intertwines their fingers. Hesitantly, he continues to caress Cas’s hands, which feel warm and soft to his cold touch. Cas, increasingly becoming frustrated with Dean’s silence, tries once again: “DeEAn, you can talk to me. It was only a nightmare. You’re here, with me.” Ultimately, the hunter musters up the courage to look into those big blue eyes, which always have him dreaming of the vast blue ocean, giving him a glimpse of something he has never seen with his own two eyes. He also notices the worry in Castiel’s face, evidenced in his furrowed brows. 

“It- it was terrible, Cas. It felt so real, so real, and it felt as if Chuck had won after all”, Dean finally speaks. 

The former angel tilts his head, still seemingly alarmed, and consoles him: “It’s alright, you’re doing now, Dean. I am okay now. You, me, Sam, Jack, Eileen. We’re alive. And it’s over. Do you want to talk about it?” 

Still holding onto those soft hands tightly, Dean explained: “I don’t know, man, it was strange. First of all, Jack just vanished. We didn’t go to get you back… We just went on with our lives. And I don’t know what happened to Eileen either. It was as if she never existed and mattered to us. Instead of going after you, we went to a pie festival. A pie festival, for fucks sake! Can you believe that? I lost you, and Sammy and I just went out as if nothing ever happened.” 

He paused for a moment, looking for Castiel’s affirmation that simply accepting his death would be absurd. “That does seem very unlike you, Dean. You’ve always done everything you could to bring me, Sam or Jack back. And it’s not real, you know that, right?” Castiel exclaims, trying to calm his stubborn lover down. 

Dean locks eyes with Cas again and continues: “It wasn’t just that I didn’t care, Cas. We went on a hunt; it was one of my father’s old cases. And then Sammy and I, we were outnumbered, you know. And somehow, I got hurt… by a goddamn piece of metal sticking out from the wall.” 

He stops for a moment, still upset by the horrible events he experienced through his sleep. Dean obviously knows that he is safe now and that everything took a turn for the better. Regardless, there is something he cannot quite shake off. He takes a deep breath as if to gather the courage to continue: “I know, Cas… I always said I’d go down swinging, on the hunt, or fighting whatever overpowered bastard we are going up against. But I think I know now… since you’ve opened my eyes… that there’s – that I can choose my own destiny. That I don’t have to die impaled by a goddamn rusty nail sticking out from the wall. Cas, I want to grow old with you, and live a normal, boring life. It’s what we deserve after all of the crap Chuck and all those cosmic bastards have put us through.” 

Cas observes the wrinkles between Dean’s eyebrows, indicating his increasing frustration and further amplified by the tremble in his voice. He pulls his lover closer, wrapping his arms around the blonde. Craving the comfort, Dean rests his head on his boyfriend’s chest. Soothed by the sound of Castiel’s heartbeat, he resumes: “I went to heaven, Cas.” The former angel earnestly replies: “Of course you’ll go to heaven, Dean. If you didn’t get to go to heaven, who would?” Dean cannot help but smile at this answer because it is so reminiscent of the confession that Cas gave just two weeks ago. 

Still distraught by the dream, Dean elaborates: “I was there. In heaven. And you know who wasn’t there? You, Cas. And I didn’t even care. All I cared about was finding Sam and driving around in the Impala and listening to this goddamned song by Kansas. There I was, you know, driving somewhere, to a bridge, to reunite with my family, finally. And the only person eventually arriving there was Sam and I was happy. How could I be happy without you? After everything we’ve been through. I don’t wanna lose you again, even if I’d somehow get through it. I wanna be with you for as long as I can and make the most of it. We’ve earned this.” 

Dean carefully loses his lover’s grip to turn around and look him in the eyes again. Castiel keeps eye contact and intently observes the hunter, who still bears an expression of despair and sadness. Almost automatically, Castiel reaches out to take Dean’s hand into his again, rests it upon his chest, and susurrates: “You’re alive, Dean, you’re here with me at the bunker, your home. And neither of us is going anywhere anytime soon, you know since we are basically unemployed right now.” 

A small giggle escapes the former angel’s chest at the ludicrousness of them, considering themselves to be out of work. They have rarely ever been able to catch a break in between the various villains they have faced, and their newfound freedom still feels surreal. So far, most of their time has been spent binging through all the Netflix they have missed out on, but eventually they will have to figure out where their next step lies. For the first time in forever, though, Cas is truly happy and at peace, knowing that whatever they choose to do, they will not have to fear for their lives anymore. Nevertheless, his expression and voice quickly turn serious again, as he tries to reassure Dean: “This sounds like Chuck’s ending, you know. He would have enjoyed this. But we…, you, you defeated him, and he can’t hurt you anymore.” 

Dean feels his heart jump in his chest, ecstatic because he still cannot believe he now has everything he never thought he could have: a shot at a normal life, his friends and family alive and, for some reason, he also has Castiel’s love. He always knew that he had his love as a best friend; he just never expected Cas to love him as more than that. Overwhelmed by his truth and the sheer absurdity of them defeating God himself, Dean, at last, lets himself relax and does the only logical thing, which is to lean down and kiss Cas. Finally, the hunter relaxes into his lover’s touch and feels the stupid dream slip from his mind. They get lost in the moment, and Dean forgets how much time has passed as he embraces his lover. If it were not for Miracle entering the room, overzealous that Dean is finally awake, jumping on the bed and squeezing herself between them, they would have stayed like this forever. Years ago, in what feels like a different life now, Dean would have gotten angry if he had found a giant dog lying on his bed. But now that everything is different, Dean finds himself laughing and giving her a pat on the head. 

Eventually, Cas asks the question which has been burning at the back of his mind for the last few days now: “Now that we are finally free, what is our next step?” 

he former angel does not know what to expect, and frankly, he would do whatever Dean wanted him to, but his answer still comes unexpectedly: “You know what I really want to do, Cas? Learn Spanish.” 

Dumbfounded, Castiel tilts his head at the other and exclaims, eyebrows furrowed: “I don't understand, Dean. Why do you suddenly want to learn a different language?” 

The blonde smiles and looks down to where Miracle is cuddled up between them, a little embarrassed to speak his mind. Realizing that he no longer has to cloak his love in shame, he looks up to find those ocean blue eyes again and continues: “Because I want to say I love you, Cas. In any language. English, Spanish, I don't care. All I know is that we can do whatever we want now. Te amo, Cas.” 

The former angel smiles, cradling the other's face, and replies: “Y yo a tí, Dean.”


End file.
